Thieving Employees Strike Printers in PA, OR

EASTON, PA—Police here have charged a husband and wife with stealing more than $657,000 from Harmony Press, The Morning Call reported.

Christina and Brian Russo were charged with theft by unlawful taking, criminal conspiracy to commit theft and receiving stolen property. Christina Russo allegedly wrote unauthorized checks to herself and her husband last October. Shop owner Stephen Grotenhuis said he confronted Christina Russo about the unauthorized checks, at which point she allegedly admitted taking the money.

Both Russos are free on unsecured bail.

Elsewhere, the former bookkeeper for Mustard Press of Medford, OR, is accused of pilfering more than $140,000 from the company during a four-year period, the Mail Tribune reported. Loretta Ford, 41, is being held in jail on 12 theft charges, including aggravated identity theft.

Mustard Press owners contacted local police last July after noticing forged signatures on company checks and other accounting discrepancies, the paper said. One of the owners, Kathy Mustard, said that Ford had “escalated” the amount she was stealing, to the point where it impacted the firm and its employees. Floyd allegedly created more than 60 fraudulent checks, and then signed one of the owner’s names to each check. In all, she took $142,386.